As Jim Morrison once said, “This is the end…my only friend, the end.” Part 7 of the “We Were Soldiers” series of devotionals. Although in the spirit of full disclosure, and like Yoda told Obi Ghost Kenobi “no, there is another.” But since I said in one of the other devotionals that it was a 7-part series, I’m going to cheat and call the next one an epilogue. That way, they still maintain their continuity. As a Star Wars fan, I’m keenly aware that the past stuff has to line up just right with the new stuff or folks lose their minds.
But in this final (but not quite final) “We Were Soldiers” devotional, I want to look at something Mel Gibson’s character told his troops. As they were preparing to deploy (same gathering when he said that he wouldn’t leave any of them behind from the second devotional) he tells them all “I will be the first on the battlefield, and I will be the last one off of that battlefield.” Then as the first helicopters land at the landing zone, they show a close-up of his boot. Zoomed in really tight, we see it step off the rail and onto the ground. And after the final battle has been won, and the men are going back to base, we see him sit on the helicopter and another close-up of his boot as he lifts it back off the ground and onto the rail. He was the first one on the battlefield, and the last one to leave.
Sounds like someone else I know. Someone that called himself “The Alpha and the Omega”. The First and the Last.
The First: He was there at the Creation…Genesis 1:1, In the beginning there was God…”elohim” – the plural God. Three-in-one God. “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” God. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Last: Matthew 28:20, the last verse and the last thing Matthew records Jesus telling the apostles, I am with you, always, until the end of the age. And of course, the Book of Revelation – the final battle where we are shown that Jesus will reign forever. He’s creating and new Heaven and a new Earth. He was there at the beginning, and He will be there at the end…or the New Beginning. He forever was. He forever is. He forever will be. “I AM”, can you dig it?
When Moses was told to go free Israel, what did he say? “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” (Genesis 3:11) But God told Moses that He would be with him, and Moses immediately went? Nope, Moses talked about being slow in speech, and that he didn’t even know who to tell them who sent him. In Judges 6, Gideon argues and argues and argues about how weak he is and SURELY God doesn’t want HIM to free Israel from Midian. And God keeps telling Gideon that He’s with him. And we see that over and over and over throughout the Bible, and those hard-headed folks just never seemed to get it.
And neither do we. Despite example after example. Despite the words of Jesus telling you that He’ll be with you. Despite Jesus telling you that He will ask the Father for the Holy Spirit to be with us (John 14:16). Despite ALL that…we don’t listen either sometimes. We think we’re all alone. We think that nobody is there to help us get through whatever it is we’re facing. We struggle through whatever it is, wading deeper and deeper into the water, steadily doing our best to drown ourselves…because “I’m all I’ve got!” No you’re not. Just like Moses wasn’t, and just like Gideon wasn’t, and just like The Running Man, Jonah wasn’t. God is with you. 1 John 4:4 “the one that is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
Listen for the Whisper that is Genesis to Revelation…66 Books of Jesus telling you that “I will be the first on the battlefield, and I will be the last one off of that battlefield.” There will be many battles. Some larger than others, and not all of them will be battles you will win. But through every single one of them, He’ll be there with you. Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. “I AM.” Can you dig it?
~Dwayne
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